Pokemon: Amber Temple
by Seedot929
Summary: Seedot goes into the ancient Amber Temple looking for fossils with several other Pokemon, but once the adventure goes wrong, will they all make it out?


Hi. My name is Seedot, and I'm a researcher at the Pokemon Fossil Research Center. At the Pokemon Fossil Research Center (PFRC) we do research on prehistoric Pokemon that are now fossilized, and we study them to learn more. I just got a job there, and I have quite a story to tell.

My boss at the research center, Rampardos, is already an expert on fossil Pokemon. Here's the reason why: he was actually a fossil Pokemon before, but the PFRC restored him and he joined us. Obviously knowing more about the prehistoric Pokemon than anyone else, he moved up the ranks pretty quickly, and now he's my boss.

I have an interest in fossils, too. There's no particular reason for it, but there's a mystery to every fossil Pokemon, and solving it is the PFRC's job. My specific job is to locate the fossils and bring them back to the center.

Now I'm on my first business trip. We're going to the Amber Temple (me, Rampardos, and about four other employees) to find some fossils. It's an ancient place, and it's been around a _really_ long time. It's mostly an unexplored area, too, so there's plenty to discover about the temple.

We're flying in the private jet now, and I can see our pilot. He's a Swellow, and he seems really relaxed while he's flying the plane. Maybe it's because he's had experience, maybe because he's a Flying-type Pokemon, but I could never do that job. I have a big fear of heights.

The Pokemon sitting next to me, Totodile, pulls out his laptop. He starts typing his password, and soon he's logged in. The laptop that Totodile has holds a lot of information on previously discovered fossils, like the Dome Fossil, Helix Fossil, Plume Fossil, etc. We even have some information on the Skull Fossil, which is the type of fossil that we revived Rampardos from (obviously I didn't have my job at the time, though).

"I can't wait to get off this plane, I'm getting airsick," I moan, sticking my head out the window. A spray of vomit comes out of my mouth. I'm telling you, I'm completely airsick and scared of heights.

"Ew…um, you need a drink of water?" Totodile asks nervously. I shake my head. I'll probably be fine once we get there.

A small black Pokemon in the shape of a letter F walks down the aisle. He's Unown, our expert at reading ancient Pokemon footprint runes. He sits down across from me and Totodile, silently reading his book. Whether Unown is reading runes or a book, he's absolutely addicted to reading.

"What're you reading, Unown?" I ask him, wondering what he's reading. Not taking his eyes off the page, Unown holds up the book to show me the cover. _Legends of Amber Temple_.

I laugh a little. "Doing some last minute studying?"

After this comment, I get a chuckle from Unown. "Ha, ha. I'm just looking at the runes found around Amber Temple, and actually, it's pretty interesting. If you can read it, like me."

"Hey, here comes the food!" says Totodile as Roselia walks in. She's a fairly good looking flower Pokemon, with a blue rose on one hand and a red rose on the other. She is holding a plate of food and munching on a chocolate truffle. It makes me very hungry just thinking about that delicious chocolaty taste.

Roselia pulls back the plate playfully as Totodile reaches out. "It's not for you, silly. I was going to give some of these to Swellow. He's probably tired," she tells Totodile.

"Oh, all right," Totodile sits and relaxes back in his chair. He starts playing Pac-Man online. I watch his game, but Totodile's not very good at Pac-Man and the red ghost catches him as soon as he's just behind a power pill. I laugh at him good-naturedly, but he shuts the laptop and gives me a glare.

I can see through the thin layer of puffy, white clouds that below us now is the light brown sandy desert. I feel like it's already causing me to see mirages after I could have sworn that I saw a flying Wailord.

Swellow gladly accepts a truffle from Roselia, and I can feel our altitude decreasing. It's not scary, though, because we're going down at a steady pace and I know we're just landing. Unown, however, is startled. _Legends of Amber Temple_ hits the floor as he jerks forward, but then realizes we're landing. Totodile and I give a soft chuckle together, but Unown doesn't hear us, his shock still wearing off.

As soon as we've landed, Swellow announces that we can unbuckle and slowly file off the plane. Rampardos goes first, awaiting us outside with a researcher from our base and our colleague who lives in the area. First, Rampardos introduces me, Totodile, Roselia, Unown, and Persian (a large tan cat who was an architect back at the PFRC).The other researcher, Audino, acknowledged everyone. She was a geologist and hoped that there were some rare stones in the Amber Temple. Before joining the PFRC, Audino had worked as the assistant nurse at the Striaton City Pokemon Center.

Audino indicates her colleague. "This is Luxio. He's an archaeologist, and wants to learn about the Pokemon that used to live here. The ancient civilization, the Amber Tribe, were the ones who built the Amber Temple. He wants to know why."

Luxio nods. "I'm not sure what the Amber Temple symbolizes. Normally temples are built for a reason, but I haven't yet found any reason why the Amber Tribe would want to build a temple," he finishes. Rampardos nods, and Swellow comes out of the plane. He's actually a new archaeologist, not nearly as experienced as Luxio, but he knows how to fly a plane, so he's perfect for our mission.

Now, finally, we've arrived at the entrance to the Amber Temple. It's fascinating and amazing, I will say, and I wanted to go in right away and have a good look around. But we're here for research purposes, not to dawdle and stare at the temple.

The Amber Temple is built out of brick. However, the Amber Tribe wasn't named the Amber Tribe for nothing, and they had lined the inside walls with nice, shiny amber. There were few trees in these parts (amber is fossilized tree sap), but just enough to be able to cover the walls, ceiling to floor.

"Okay, so here is the arch, the entrance," Persian's foreign accent rang around the walls of the temple. The echo went on an on down the long, dark hallways. I wondered in my head, _How would the Amber Tribe be able to see in here?_

Persian takes a few steps forward before gesturing with his paws as he explains. "This hall leads down. From looking at the outside of Amber Temple, all of the halls cannot be above ground. The tunnels probably lead underground, and I'm judging by the shape that they curve all around down there. We'll obviously need lights before we explore the tunnels, and I know that Roselia and Seedot brought the lights. Totodile, I'm just warning you that you might not get a signal for your laptop down there, so make sure that you have your batteries in case you run out of power. We're going underground once everyone's ready. Understood?" he finishes, his accent making him sound funny in the echoing temple. I almost laughed, but I know that this is a serious situation.

"Ready?" Persian asks us all. Audino pulls on her backpack, Rampardos and Unown pulls out flashlights, and Swellow, Roselia, Totodile, Luxio, and I all nod. The stone staircase led deep down into the lower layer of the temple. As much as I'm normally not afraid of the dark, if you're going down into a deep pit of darkness and you don't know where the ground is beneath it, it's terrifying. The good thing is, flashlights are on our side.

Luxio swiftly ties one end of a rope he pulled out of his backpack to a large boulder that the stone staircase led beneath. "We'll rappel down the rope, just to make sure that the staircase is not booby trapped."

Swellow raises his wing, asking to go first. Luxio agrees because Swellow could just fly down, and report to them if he was safe and the coast was clear. Swellow goes down, a small dagger in his talon. He wants to be safe rather than sorry. I can't blame him for that.

The bird Pokemon bravely wanders down into the dark pit. No screams are heard, and Rampardos goes in, followed by Luxio. Unown goes, then Audino, then Totodile, then Roselia, and Persian and me are left. I get the courtesy of going first.

"You can go now, Seedot," Persian says patiently. I realize I've been deep in thought worrying about what could happen rather than what I have to do now.

"Uh, yeah, thanks, Persian," I smile at him. The Classy Cat Pokemon smiles back sincerely, and I jump in the hole, both of my feet closed tightly around the rope (since I have no hands, I use my feet). I lower myself slowly, Persian helping from the top and Rampardos pulling from below. He gently tugs me off the rope, and I collapse on the ground with exhaustion. Flying on a plane, entering an unexplored temple, and climbing down a deep pit really takes the energy out of you.

It's about nighttime by now, and Persian's come down with us. Totodile has volunteered to take the first watch while we rest, and because I feel that I owe him for that, I volunteer for third watch (since Luxio took the second).

I've slept a nice, decent amount tonight. I've been dreaming about evolving into a Nuzleaf, finding unexpected treasure in Amber Temple, even being attacked by the skeletons of fossil Pokemon. Obviously I know that none of those will happen, seeing that I'm not strong enough to evolve and the other two are simply ridiculous.

I feel a paw prodding me awake. It's a dark blue paw, and I look up to see the face of Luxio. I guess it's already time for me to take my watch. As I'm watching, I write down the first events of my day in my journal.

_October 24_

_Today I was on the plane to visit Amber Temple. Now that I'm actually here, it's a lot scarier than I even first expected. It feels like around every corner there's some sort of creepy monster waiting to ambush you. Obviously there's not, though, I just have a vivid imagination. Still, it feels like there's more to this temple than meets the eye…that's all I'm going to write for now._

As soon as I look up, I swear I see a shadow running behind a stone beam. I think it knew I saw it, so it hid, but I'm not sure that I saw anything. Wow, this is so confusing…but I must investigate.

I check out the area behind the stone beam. Nobody is there, hiding from me and hoping I don't find them. I'm extremely relieved because I don't want to get involved with anything like that. But at least I looked for something. I'm a loyal lookout.

Later on, it's finally morning. Everyone is awake, and I'm glad my shift is over. It sure did tire me out. Unown is busy looking at some footprint runes on the wall. "Hey, guys, come check this out." The Symbol Pokemon calls the whole group over. Audino is the first to go, wanting to see Unown's discovery.

"There's some sort of story carved on the wall. Should I read it?" Unown offers. The rest of us nod, ready to hear the story.

_A while ago, our village was threatened by a terrible tyrant named Aerodactyl. He took over our village, turned us into slaves, and made us work for him. We got nothing from it, no food or water or any supplies to live. Aerodactyl was using us, and didn't care if we died._

_The Amber Tribe, however, is not a tribe to go down without a fight. We fought back against Aerodactyl, and our efforts seemed to surprise him. But they weren't enough to kick him off the throne. Aerodactyl defeated us, destroying our attempts at a better life._

_But then a hero arose among us. Medicham was his name. He had the power of aura on his side. Medicham confronted Aerodactyl to a duel, and together the two of them fought. The fight lasted at least an hour before the victor emerged from Aerodactyl's palace. The victor was Medicham._

_Medicham has warned all of us villagers not to tamper with Aerodactyl's new form. After winning, Medicham had transformed Aerodactyl into a rock. He created the Amber Temple to protect the new form of Aerodactyl from anyone touching it._

_This is a warning to anyone who comes here after the Amber Tribe. If you seek to revive Aerodactyl, be warned that he will cause chaos and destruction. Medicham has set traps along the way. If you choose to find him, you will perish. Turn back, intruders. You are not welcome here._

Unown looks frightened. "That is not a warm welcome."

Roselia looks worried, almost to the point of fainting. "This Aerodactyl didn't sound like a nice Pokemon to be around. I suggest we go back before we get into more trouble." Swellow nods his agreement.

"No."

Everyone turns to look at the voice. Rampardos is glaring at us all.

"How can you suggest turning back after this? This is an opportunity to figure out the mystery of Amber Temple. We can find Aerodactyl's fossil and get out of here then. I can't believe a loyal crew like all of you would even think of turning back," Rampardos says, a determined look in his eyes. "This is an adventure."

"This is dangerous!" I shout, surprised by my own harshness. I don't want to go on anymore. This message has completely scared me out of my wits, and I'm not going on Rampardos' dangerous and foolish quest for a stupid fossil. Yeah, normally I like fossils, but this is absurd.

Unown stands beside me. "I'm with Seedot. We're in way over our heads in this, Rampardos."

Rampardos frowns. "Fine. We'll go back. This is very disappointing, but I guess I can understand now how you don't want to go on…let's go back."

I think of my warm, cozy home. Maybe going home is a better idea than staying after all.

All of us climb up the rope and head toward the arch at the entrance. But once we reach the arch, something is wrong. Definitely wrong.

The arch is sealed shut. We're trapped inside.

Panic floods my brain. All I can do right now is panic. I'm on the edge of hysteria, and we can't escape after all. Somebody has sealed us inside the Amber Temple. Since we can't get out, the only way is to go forward. It looks like Rampardos' idea is what goes after all.


End file.
